crozworld december 2013 - crossword clubcrosswordclub.org/inc/data/crozworlds/crozworld...
TRANSCRIPT
© 2013 The Australian Crossword Club
Half 'n Half by Bogeyman 3Cryptic by Virgo 4Cryptic by Jesso 5AJ by Valkyrie 6You don't say! by Crowsman 7Cryptic by Flowerman 8Quiz No 12/2013 9Subscription renewals 5Donations with thanks 5New Book by David Astle 9Members' Comments 10Results October Slot 6 12
page
A word in a dictionary is very much like a car in a mammoth motorshow – full of potential but temporarily inactive.
Anthony Burgess, 1992, A Mouthful of Air, 1, Ch. 10
www.crosswordclub.org
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President Patrick Street 395 Canning St, North Carlton Vic 3054 Ph (03) 9347 1216 [email protected]
Secretary Bev Cockburn 12 Norman St, Merrylands West NSW 2160 Ph (02) 9635 7802 [email protected]
Puzzle Editor Ian Williams 12 Lindrum Cres, Holt ACT 2615 Ph (02) 6254 6860 [email protected]
Puzzle No. 1 2 3 4 5 TotalEntries received 99 100 89 98 87 473Correct entries 28 96 41 86 81 332Success rate (%) 28.3 96.0 46.1 87.8 93.1 70.2
Prizewinners M Kennedy A Barrett M Pyc D Hemsley D McManus from 103 members
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THE AUSTRALIAN CROSSWORD CLUB
W.A.
N.T.QLD
S.A.N.S.W.
Vic.
Tas.
We have been delighted with the excellent response to the renewal of subscriptions and the generous donations to the ACC Prize Fund
2014. It looks like the New Year will be richly rewarding for all solvers! Details of renewals and the names of those who have kindly donated to the 2014 Prize Fund can be found on p5. Further renewals and donations will be acknowledged in the next Crozworld. Many thanks for your generous sponsorship of the ACC in 2014.
Don't forget about the special offer where you can sign up a new member for 2014 for only $30. Some of the members have already taken up this great offer. It will make a wonderful gift to your friends and a great Christmas present not to mention a year-round intellectual challenge for your friends!
Brilliant Puzzle Editor Ian Williams has selected another excellent range of puzzles for you this month. Your favourites are featured: Bogeyman, Jesso and Virgo with excellent cryptics. New compiler Valkyrie has compiled a challenging AJ in the Slot 4 position and Crowsman gives us another brilliant cryptic composition for Slot 5 titled You don't say! Flowerman has devised a fascinating Slot 6 puzzle and Brian Symons has invented another commendable Quiz called Laminate.
Kindly note the early closing date – Wednesday 18 December. This will enable us to get the January Crozworld out in good time for Christmas. Finally, a special note of thanks to the Williams team – Kay and Ian – for adjudicating the Slots 1-5 puzzles this month plus the e-lodgment ones too! Best of Luck with your solving. And we sincerely thank our Adjudicator – Andrew Patterson – who has taken on the pleasant task of adjudicating Slots 1-5 for December. —Patrick
ACT
Thank you to so many members for the cards and good wishes that accompanied their puzzle submissions.
Slot 1 was well received although it was noted as being on the diffi cult side. Unfortunately, a signifi cant number of members failed to identify the required Strauss opera ELEKTRA, neglecting to take account of the “Prefer, so to speak” in the clue which gave ELEKT from “elect”. No opera with the name of ELECTRA could be identifi ed, despite an intensive search. Apart from a couple of GLADBAGs and some typos, there were few other problems.
Slot 2 was well-received and gave very little trouble. Accordingly it had a high success rate.
Slot 3: Many plaudits for Slot 3 and its neat “French connection” theme and its clever ANAGRAM, but many had problems in spelling SARKOZY – for whose name no alternative spellings could be identifi ed. TIPPIER was offered for 27ac by several solvers who didn’t take account of the slightly naughty indirect anagram giving the T (SIP*) IER solution.
Slot 4: Much praise for Slot 4. Very few errors: the more familiar “nookie” and “nookey” were offered for NOONER as a form of lunch break sex but, sadly, it was not supported by the construction.
Slot 5: A number of members noted some issues with the numbering of the Slot 5 double acrostic, which a close friend of mine says are quite tricky to set up. Happily it didn’t appear to result in any problems, although two solvers failed to spell MURMUR correctly.
The combined issues in slots 1 and 3 had the result that only eight members achieved fi ve dots.
COTM: A good number of nominations was received for all slots, and for no less than 9 different nominated clues from slot 3 and 10 clues from slot 4. The cleverly-defi ned LEFT PARENTHESIS from Slot 4 narrowly knocked Slot 3’s ANAGRAM into second position. Congratulations to Len (again!), but congratulations to all compilers on achieving at least two nominations each, demonstrating (if demonstration was needed) the high standards of our setters. —Kay Williams
Prizewinner: November 2013 Slots 1-5: Andrew Miles. Congratulations!
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MEMBERS RE SULTS FOR OCT Slot 6 & NOV 2013 Slots 1-5
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MEMBER 1 2 3 4 5 6ALLEN W • • • • •
ANDERSON C • • • • • •
ARCHIBALD C • •
AXELSEN U • • • • •
BARNES J • • •
BARRETT A • • •
BAYLIS J • • •
BLAKE M • • • •
BROTHERTON J •
CAINE R • • • • •
CALLAN A & D • • • •
CARPENTER R •
CARROLL L • • •
CHAMPION G • • • •
CHRISTIANSEN R • •
COATES D • • • •
COCKBURN B • • • •
COLE G • • •
COLGAN L • • • • •
COLLINS M • • • •
COPLAND F • • •
COULTON L • • •
COWAN M • • • •
CROMER H • • •
DEARIE P • • • •
DE GRYS A • • • •
DINHAM V • • •
DOBELE T • • • • •
DORRELL R • • •
DOUGLAS R • • • • •
DUCKER R •
DYER A •
EASON A •
EVANS, Jean •
FOWLER J • • • •
MEMBER 1 2 3 4 5 6FREELAND J • • • •
FULLER G • • •
GARNER P • • • • •
GLISSAN B • • • • •
GOODERICK R • • •
GRAINGER D • • •
GREENBERGER O • • •
HAGAN R • • • •
HAMBLING C • • • • •
HARPER K • • • • •
HEMSLEY D • •
HEYES N • • • •
HOWARD V • •
HOWELLS S • • • • •
IBBOTT B •
JAMES V •
JERMY A • • • • • •
JONES D • • • • •
KASIVAJJULA B •
KENNEDY L • • • •
KENNEDY M • • • • • •
KNIGHT S • •
LEE C • • • •
LEE N • • •
LEEDS G • • • • •
LEIGH L • • • •
LEMON G •
LOBSEY V • • •
LORD P • • • • •
MARTIN A • • •
MARTIN F • • •
MAY S
McADOO G •
McCLELLAND C • •
McGRATH J • • •
MEMBER 1 2 3 4 5 6McKENIZE I • • • • • •
McMANUS D • • •
MEEK D • • • •
MERCER P • •
MILES A • • • • •
MOLINE R • • • • •
NOBLE C • • • • •
O'BRIEN Eileen • •
PARSONS D • • • • •
PATTERSON A • • • • •
PINDER S • • • •
POTTS M • • •
PROCTER D • • • •
PROCTER M • • • • •
PYC M • • • •
RODDICK M • • •
ROULSTON S • • • •
RYAN WG • • • •
SHIELD A • • • •
SIEGMAN B • • •
SIMONS A • • •
SKINNER R • • •
SMITH J • • • • • •
STEINBERGER M • • • • •
STOREY N • • • •
SYMONS B • • • • •
TAYLOR R • • • • •
TAYLOR S • • • • •
THOMPSON I • • •
TICKLE B • • •
WALTER A • • • • •
WILCOX C • •
WILLIAMS K&I • • • • •
WIMBUSH R • • • • •
WOOD J • •
WOODFORD J • • •
ZUCAL H • • •
Oct 6-2013
T O E H O L D N E W S M A NR L L E O E A OA H E A D W A N D E R E R SR K S C P N EA U T O M O B I L E Z A N YL R O I E S DG R A B B A G R I P O S T EO I M I O TN O V E L L A C I T R A T E
O E N A L C RR O X Y A D E L A I D E A NA P C A G T IP H O N O G R A M H O O K SI P D I U T N ED I S D A I N G O S P E L S
C O U R S E F A L L O V E RH P W A V I I UA G R E E A B L E Q U E E NR I E U R U W WI N S E T S O A P O P E R AS I E G R R YM A N A G E R E P I CA G E C I E
S N A P B L E N D I NG S E L E E TA P P E R T A I N T I A R AT R A C I R L NE X E R T E N G R A V I N GA A O B N I S LU N D E R D O G F L A M B E
S A G A C O N N E C T I O NL A G V E H S EI N U T I L E A N A G R A MN G A R R G A OG R I N N E D S T A M E NS N T R L L AH I G G S A B S O L V I N GO W P OT H E F R E N C H B O S O NS X E I I A YC A R N O T N I G E R I A
S M O H C B K UT I P S I E R T I E D O W NA L R E E N Z TB R E A S T W O R K D Y E S
M V X K U C WP A G A N I N I N O O N E RN C N T R B I
H A K A J I T T E R B U G ST N I I S L H
L E F T P A R E N T H E S I SE N S R ND I N G Y G Y P S Y
Q N O O SR U S S I A N R O U L E T T EE I R G R N I
B U L G A R I A N S T I P SE H A N E A E
F R O T H Y Z I L L I O N SS S S A F L D
A S T H E Y M U R M U R O N TH E I R B A R S I V E S W A PP E D E M F O R T H E M U R ME R O F T R A M S A N D M O TO R C A R S S T I L L I F Y OU D L I K E T O C H A T A B OU T T I M E S G O N E B Y D ON T M E N T I O N T H E O L DM A N P L A I N C A L L I N TO V I S I O N S P L E N D I DW A T E R V I E W S T R E E TB A L M A I N
S P A H S A FH E R P H O N E D A I SU E I L L V S
I N S Y N C I N F L I G H TE E D R S
R H O D E S I A U N E A S YE O Y L T
T R A N C H E F E T C H E RO O O H E
A N T H E M F O R K E E P SE E F U S
I S T A N B U L G A S B A GW R A O G M Y
L A N E S P A C E A G EN R E D D N S
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Slots 1-5: Andrew Patterson, 372 Great North Rd, Abbotsford NSW 2046.e-mail: [email protected] mail date: Wednesday 18 December 2013. e-lodgment: [email protected] 6: Ian Thompson 1904 Malvern Road, Malvern East Vic 3145.email: [email protected] mail date: Friday 17 January 2014.
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Half 'n Halfby
Bogeyman
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Prize:
Autographed by DA
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Across 1 Helping (7) 6 Bathing beach (4) 9 Mountain range (5) 11 Fruit (5) 12 Large feline (4) 13 Choice (4) 15 Sale participants (7) 16 Liquid of doubtful provenance (5,3) 19 Expired (3,3) 20 Shade (4) 23 Locate in a different place (6) 24 Private communication (5) 25 Crowd noise? (7) 27 Smelly (5) 30 Opening (6) 31 Hydrocarbon radical (4) 32 Catchphrase (6) 34 Nomad (8) 35 Very short dance? (3-4) 38 Legend (4) 39 Ark Captain (4) 40 Moment (5) 41 Salamanders (5) 42 Rend (4) 43 Ruminant (3,4)
Down 1 Composer friend on drug trains frantically (10) 2 Materialise surrounding form to group again (10) 3 Object in rear diverted to unknown route (9) 4 Woolly surface relative to cloth (6) 5 Animal receiving multiple Oscars for silence? (4) 6 Docile people may drink to failures (7) 7 Man, or no man? (4) 8 "Resistance" found in Beerbohm sonata (4) 10 Latent corruption inelegantly expressed as the negative! (5) 14 Encouraged and egged ancient city to supplant, for example (5) 17 Word for a hot mixture (4) 18 Uncultured person not reaching a high level at top of hill (7) 21 Butt for sack by kitchen fi replace (5,5) 22 Agreement on ACT perhaps – the old autonomous region once
upon a time? (10) 24 Plenty make whist call (9) 26 Colour ran around nothing (4) 28 To make fl at fi rst of 22 is the literal opposite in words (5) 29 Exhibitionist may show bottomless container to that woman (7) 32 Track posted, we hear (5) 33 Assemble gun at the centre of Shere (6) 35 Leave out chant – gain sex appeal (4) 36 Vessel in Tibet navy (4) 37 Flower arrangement for Sibil, with it, abandoning potential
promise (4)
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Across 1 Got up president in fl oral form… (8) 5 … for ex-PM’s ball, perhaps? (6). (6) 9 Crowd esteems poetic entrances (8) 10 Another wait rumoured for mathematician (6) 12 A nanny to care for another servant (9) 13 Cover act about article (5) 14 Hardship to listen! (4) 16 Having the will to try tea blend (7) 19 Misprint involves paperback in mature collection! (7) 21 Craze expected fi rstly to wane (4) 24 Swear El is not this kind of letter! (5) 25 What may be unearthed or absurdly found in citrus
fruit! (9) 27 Dishonest person has afterthought and folds (6) 28 Heard injunction to retain footing and escape tangle (8) 29 Eat and get set to move (6) 30 Grating on a U.S. football fi eld (8)
Down 1 About fellow-ruler (6) 2 Rate is dreadful send up (6) 3 Knife or other weapon, that is (5) 4 Mess around with bird (7) 6 Drove insane with rotten odes – committed suicide! (9) 7 Moving, a moonlit fancy (8) 8 Time occupying golf course connections (8) 11 French to say "Entrance " (4) 15 Kitty on moving slope with other creatures (9) 17 First of radar devices rigged and maintained (8) 18 A poet sunbaking (8) 20 Think over a Scottish island (4) 21 Loud and erratic rumble from butterfi ngers (7) 22 It may be one quarter turn (6) 23 Relations not arising for Blake Churchman? (6) 26 Juice – the same – tasty! (5)
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Prize$75
Crypticby
Virgo
GENERAL COMMENTS:• I was absolutely thrilled by the arrival of the Oxford Dictionary of English this week. And a certifi cate to show off to the family!! Thank you very much and to my friend Barry for joining me up with Crozworld. I now look forward to each month and more puzzles. Norma Heyes• Thank you for the 'Congratulations!' certifi cate for my COTM. I think it was the best news I've had all year! Roy Wilson• My sincere thanks for my book prize (The A-Z of Bradman) for the September 7 puzzle. I'm sure it will be an interesting read, and thanks to Alan Eason for inscribing my name in it. Claire McClelland• A very big thank you for my prize for Slots 1-5 for October. I scanned through the individual puzzle awards for the month, and found I wasn’t there. So that was that! Then an envelope arrived with Patrick's unmistakeable calligraphy and I wondered what I had missed. So thank you for the prize and the surprise! Frank Martin• Thank you to the ACC and the Committee and setters and adjudicators for giving us such a challenging pastime. Thank you for my October Slot 3 prize. I hope that all members have a great Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year. David Procter
ANNUAL GET-TOGETHER 2013We are looking forward to celebrating the 2013 Get-Together at William Ryan's exciting Harold Park Hotel which is situated cnr Wigram Road and Ross Street, Glebe NSW. Many thanks to William for making his 'pride and joy' available for us to meet and discuss important things of a cruciverbal nature. It's not too late to accept the invitation. Kindly contact our Secretary Bev Cockburn to tell her that you would like to be one of the prestigious members attending this VIP function. Be there!!!
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Crypticby
Jesso
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MEMBERSHIPS and RENEWALS FOR 2014: Allen W, Anderson C, Armishaw G, Barnes J, Barrett A, Blake M, Callan A&D, Carpenter R, Carroll L, Davis K, DeGrys T, Dennis M, Dobele A, Dubosarsky D, Evans Judith, Fowler J, Freeland J, Gleeson C, Glissan B, Grainger D, Greening D, Hagan B, Hambling C, Heath P, Heenan C, Hemsley D, Howard V, Howells S, Ibbott B, Jermy A, Johnson J, Jones D, Kennedy L, Lee C, Lemon G, Lobsey V, MacDougall I, Martin J, Mason I, Matthews S, May S, Milton R, Morris B, Pearce J, Pearson A, Procter D, Procter M, Randall J, Roddick M, Shaw Dr G, Shipway S, Skinner R, Stocks J, Stow M, Taylor R, Thomas E, Thompson I, Veress M, Villiers W and Wood J. DONATIONS TO THE 2014 PRIZE FUND ARE GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGED FROM:Warren Allen, Corryn Anderson, Jeremy Barnes, Arthur Barrett, Mauren Blake, Alison & David Callan, Carroll Lesley, Ken Davis, Tony DeGrys, Tony Dobele, Jim Fowler, Jill Freeland, Cheryl Gleeson, Barbara Glissan, David Grainger, Bob Hagan, Catherine Hambling, Christine Heenan, Don Hemsley, Susan Howells, Barbara Ibbott, Judith Johnson, Doreen Jones, Laurence Kennedy, Gary Lemon, Veniece Lobsey, Iain MacDougall, John Martin, Sandra May, Barbara Morris, David Procter, Marian Procter, Judy Randall, Max Roddick, Sally Shipway, Richard Skinner, Jack Stocks, Roy Taylor, Ian Thompson and Wendy Villiers.
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Across 1 Direct a star’s dancing style (5,4) 6 Last female turnaround to obscure? (5) 9 Drunken revel with the fl ower of Berlin (5) 10 Chiefs ran off with commercial concession (9) 11 Essayist puts heavy weight behind church
compound (10) 12 Little devil starting to intimidate warrior army (4) 14 Legal right to having senate in? Exactly (4,2) 15 Obsession to mend at ten before noon (8) 16 Townsman backed uncontrollable movement (3) 17 Settled back with a descendant with all the notes (8) 18 Seasonable titmouse dropping note (6) 20 A swimmer in a mad dash (4) 21 Foil a very lovely scene (6,4) 24 Prompt fool to comb wool (5,4) 25 Rustic play at Lyceum initially (5) 26 Caen’s odd dramatic recitative and aria (5) 27 Without opening middle bird’s ballet movement (9)
Down 1 Graduate’s in charge of standard minimum (5) 2 Ferrari passed us out of control on the
Gold Coast (7,8) 3 A blow, in whatever degree, to staff sailor (4,6) 4 An animal crossing the county (6) 5 Building up a catch, opposition leader left
in charge (8) 6 Smell by a little creek — it’s beer! (4) 7 A head fi rm profi t questionably from opera (4,4,2,5) 8 Lenin's gen about Engels' inn distributed in
NSW (4,5) 13 Wrong fairy met the Spanish chart of descent (6,4) 14 Disciple to contact in the event of treachery (5-4) 15 Hand a fi ve-dollar bill (3) 16 Allow cry right in the gallery (8) 19 Play on words reputed in France to have authority (6) 22 Sign the lavatory has no-one in it? (2,3) 23 Top unfi nished in state portico (4)
Prize:
Book Prize kindly donated by Claire Batum
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AJby
Valkyrie
Solutions begin with the given letter. Put them in the grid jigsaw-wise, where they fi t.
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Compiler Profi le:Valkyrie (Ulla Axelsen) Both my name and my nom-de-plume refl ect a Scandinavian background. I was born in Denmark and migrated to Australia with my family when I was 7. I have been a keen cryptic crossword fan for years and have spent many hours puzzling over them, even more now that I am retired. English words were not my fi rst passion, numbers were. This probably stems from the fact that English was not my fi rst language and that my fi rst job was as a Maths teacher. I stopped teaching for 11 years to raise a family: only to return to the folds of teaching, not in Maths this time, but in ESL. This opened a whole new world of language to me and has kept me in its thrall ever since. Once words got their hook into me I became a bit of a puzzle fi end, creating all sorts of word puzzles for fellow staff members to enliven their dull lunch time breaks! After retiring I started to compile cryptic crosswords for my daughter and on joining The Australian Crossword Club she encouraged me to send in some of my compilations. [Note: Valkyrie’s clue-writing skills are acknowledged by DA in the form of the “award” of a Chapter title in his new book Cluetopia. See pp141-2. Ed]
Don Manley is our forthcoming Special Guest at our Get-Together on 1 December next. His Chambers Crossword Manual is acknowledged as the defi nitive work on modern cruciverbalism and is an essential handbook for crossword fans of all degrees of experience. The new edition is substantially revised and updated and covers the history and development of crosswords, the language of crossword clues, clue types, tips on solving and other vital information for both solvers and setters.
Prize:
3rd ed: 2009 rrp $99
A Contrary meaning of article on century gets my backing (7)
B Respite can at fi rst subdue fragile things (10) C Craft and needlework often encourage beginners (5) D To discourage germs, remove crumbs regularly,
cleanse thoroughly (7) E Messenger, losing second of notes, caused a desire
for more (4) F Purifi cation reformed unfi t image, supplanting
ecstasy by love (10) G Book vehicle with head of Isuzu (4) H Shape the plan, go with a newness (10) I Hero spurns love with hesitant time waster (5) I Middle Eastern country protects working, married
athlete (4,3) J Ridicule joker who lost heart (4) K Sounds like c-word retains backing of newspaper
hopper (8) L Chain-mail reportedly for go-between (7) M Note mostly the smallest (5)
N Prickers' teases (7) O Side door regularly turned up possibilities (4) O Being under obligation lead to unrestrained
demonstrations of obeisance (5) P Amount of acid? Litre is manufactured for love potion (7) Q Which French creek, with unrestricted energy, is
cooking rapidly? (5-8) R Provision of more food to reformed ironmen hustler
lacks touch of liberality (13) S Spices up sin amongst water vermin (4,6) T Dangerous place for your old democratic group
elected leaders (4,4) U Run inside, set free inexperienced (7) V Five-eleventy? Not English, not new, but very smooth (7) W After exercises, point appendage southward (4-4) X Don't hoax, rich need redirection to become fair (12) Y Model name in any spring retailing (4-8) Z Lots of pride, say, after queen returned (8)
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You don't say!by
Crowsman
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Compiler BiographyAlan Eason (Aristides) was born in Sydney in 1947. After a three-year stint in the Army (which included two tours of South Vietnam) he gained a qualifi cation in accounting, but when he found words were more interesting than fi gures he tried his hand at compiling cryptic crosswords, publishing his fi rst in the SMH in 1977. Over the next 35 years he contributed cryptic and a wide range of theme crosswords and quizzes to many newspapers and magazines. Alan compiled a book of cryptic and theme crosswords for the ABC in 1986 and published a how-to book on solving cryptics in 1988. In 1988-89 he contributed two feature articles on cryptics to the SMH and wrote an introduction for a Fairfax series of crossword books. Also in 1988 Alan established the Crossworders' Club, the precursor to the ACC. In the '90s he wrote and edited trivia games for interactive television and worked as a sub-editor with an IT publisher. For eight years from 2000 he worked on three editions of The A-Z of Bradman (pictured). The third edition was published by Scribe Publications in August 2008 to coincide with the Don’s centenary (a copy of which Alan donated as a prize for the Slot 7 prize in September – Ed). Alan is currently contributing a prize cryptic to Limelight magazine and conducting workshops on cryptics for the U3A. (More information at www.alaneason.net.au)
Prize:
Win!
Ten clues each contain a defi nition, but the secondary indicators are incomplete in an identical way. All other clues are normal.
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Across 9 Left in vessel, make a mess (7,2) 10 Constitutional – must discard small fi sh! (5) 11 Wrong 4 taken up (4) 12 Smart, but not speaking well (10) 14 Mischievous 10 led in (5) 16 Charge around, breaking glass – end of freedom for
Crowsman, say (9) 18 I even went around old Amazonian city (7) 19 Poison is spread around fi rst bit of lawn to vary the
pitch (7) 20 Material for removing water from the Geneva Grand? (9) 21 Man, perhaps, follows a walkway (5) 22 Newspaper reviewed case, backing call from sanitation
worker (10) 24 Bond’s spoken language? (4) 27 Tennis champion’s advance to head of ladder (5) 28 Cancer's head doctor gets sailboat set-up (6,3)
Down 1 Running quickly, belt out around front of college (10) 2 Polish up end of door knob (4) 3 Indian pick-up (3) 4 Run with 11 in retreat (4) 5 Gyration before undressing fi nally is sizzling (10) 6 Trouncing ends in despicable act (5,6) 7 Still lacking lunar light holds it up (10) 8 22Down is up-beat (4) 13 Lacking competence is beyond expression (11) 15 Batting pitch (10) 16 Still missing start of seeding following locust
plague (10) 17 Socializes, ignoring the French rumours (10) 22 Game 8 climbed up (4) 23 Sergeants exclude tough fabric for members of army (4) 25 Front component missing from cutting instrument (4) 26 Go up and down (3)
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Post Solution
to:
Ian Thompson, 1904 Malvern Road, Malvern East Vic 3145.email: [email protected] mail date: Friday 17 January 2014.
Crypticby
Flowerman
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Across
1 Frightful old theatre’s pig aroma hasn’t bothered audience initially (14)
9 Make out regular payment to cover short lift to the terminus (9)
10 What’s all this? Spilled the beans outside loo upfront? (5)
11 A backward newspaper shortened epic poem (5)
12 Ancient element to support tiny creature (5,4)
13 Deliveries fl exible for such eggs? (4,4)
15 House took year eliminating resistance to new African (6)
17 One initially can expect increases in freezing weather episodes (3-3)
19 Cautiously, without hesitation, I’m rotating joints (8)
22 Foreign articles hold promise (9)
23 Black look white to audience (5)
24 The type to send over a parcel from southern Italy? (5)
25 A dip in high glaucoma incidence fi nally (9)
26 Current praise over quiet success (14)
Down
1 Ominous pair resorted to cunning sparingly (14)
2 Brief initial attempt with power lever (7)
3 Time to pot fl ower (5)
4 Waste depot will seek missing braces regularly and in stages (8)
5 Wise king divided when electing leader (6)
6 Following work Jack’s off acting (9)
7 That’s inane really accepting magazine's evocative phrasing (7)
8 Magnifi cation of the sound of a piano is intended (14)
14 Person ate cooked tongue (9)
16 Scholars detail exact recommendation mostly (8)
18 One can vividly recall fl ipping over quote I'd heard before (7)
20 For post-preparatory period, maybe, run an eye over renovation (4,3)
21 Dog collar written up as fi rst-class (4-2)
23 It shows a relationship’s good, with husband keeping standard up (5)
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New Members: Maria Stow from Eildon Vic. and Amanda Pearson from The Rock NSW (a membership Gift from Ken Davis). Welcome to the Wonderful World
of Crozworlding.
Clueing Conventions – an occasional forumIn the October edition of Crozworld we suggested that members may wish to comment on some of the clueing conventions that may make or spoil the enjoyment of clues. A respected, long-standing compiler notes: “I mainly use abbreviations which I fi nd in the standard dictionaries. Abbreviations from Chambers and Collins are most used, as even the full Macquarie lists few one-letter abbreviations. I do not like some of the abbreviations that some of our compilers use when I cannot verify them with one of the dictionaries.”
A New Book from 'Mr Dictionary' David AstlePuzzles and Words 2 is a follow-up to vol 1 which displayed a medley of puzzles and surprising word stories in a one pocket-sized volume from Australia's best-known wordsmith, David Astle.
In vol 2 there are 200 new brain teasers from anagrams to riddles, puns to word pyramids to keep all levels and ages challenged and amused. Plus 250 of David's entertaining word stories that unlock the secrets and origins of everything from April to zemblanity. Puzzles and Words 2 is sure to keep every brain tickled for ages.
On these pages lurk words like a munzee and a woozle. Each puzzle is graded for diffi culty, from one hourglass (simple) to three (savage), with the horizontal glass implying a bit of both. A savage one on p47 requires the letters DL to be removed from the answer to make another answer, eg, Chaos/ray is BEDLAM/BEAM, while trip/enigma is RIDE/RIDDLE. An easy one is to scramble STRASBURG to fi nd a general name for bindi-eyes.
The book was published on 20 November 2013. For further information visit: http://www.allenandunwin.com/
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Quiz No 12/2013 Laminate by Brian Symons. 20 defi nitions are given. The word lengths of the answers are indicated and all are in Chambers. Answers are in reverse alphabetical order. All answers have something in common and two clues for this commonality have already been given. Send your answers to Brian Symons, 1 Kookaburra Place, Grays Point NSW 2232 e-mail: [email protected] Closing date: 17 January 2014. Book prize kindly donated by Brian Symons.
1 A primitive statue (6)2 A pungent sauce (14)3 Clumsy (8)4 A number (6)5 Sully (7)6 A fruit (9)7 Reticent (8)8 A newspaper (7)9 Hissing (8)
10 Part of ruminant stomach (10)11 Large tent (7)12 Disaffected person (10)13 Cunning (5)14 A kind of mania (11)15 Of symptoms due to treatment (10)16 A plant (6)17 Limp (7)18 Shoulder-piece (9)19 Trickle (7)20 Gondolier's song (10)
Quiz 10/2013 Musicfest by Virgo (Audrey Austin). Entries: 45 Winner: Ken Watt – Congratulations!Solutions:1. Albinoni 2. Almeida 3. Bartok 4. Dohnanyi 5. Donizetti 6. Dvorak 7. Fauré 8. Glinka 9. Gluck 10. Humperdinck, 11, Kodaly 12. Mascagni 13. Meyerbeer 14. Monteverdi 15. Ponchielli, 16. Rachmaninoff 17. Rodrigo 18. Rossini 19. Saint-Saens 20. Scarlatti 21. Shostakovich 22. Smetana 23. Telemann 24.Villa-Lobos.Results: 24: John Baylis, Robyn Caine, Graeme Cole, Verna Dinham, Jim Fowler, Pat Garner, Marion Gavan, Barbara Glissan, Ray Gooderick, Susan Howells, Barbara Ibbott, Ann Jermy, Doreen Jones,
Julie Leigh, Pat Lord, John Martin, Claire McClelland, Andrew Miles, Eileen O’Brien, Jan Pearce, Sue Pinder, Mike Potts, Joan Smith, Brian Symons, Alan Walter, Ken Watt, Robyn Wimbush. 23: Patricia Abbott, Warren Allen, Bev Cockburn, Peter Dearie, Alan Eason, Gabrielle Leeds, Drew Meek, Paula Mercer, Marian Procter, Max Roddick, Sonia Roulston, Margaret Steinberger, Nea Storey, Cheryl Wilcox. 22: Margaret Dennis, Gary Lemon, Joan McGrath. 21: Phyl Heath.Adjudicators’ CommentsAlternative spellings and typos were the hallmarks of this quiz! As members pointed out, the different spellings of some of the surnames in a few references created a bit of diffi culty. Not entirely trusting Wikipedia (!), we took as our authority Oxford Music Online, which covers Grove Music Online, Oxford Dictionary of Music, Oxford Companion to Music, and Encyclopaedia of Popular Music. As the quiz instructions didn't stipulate alphabetical order, we accepted other answers so long as they matched the number of letters required and had the correct fi rst name. Rachmaninoff (when Rachmaninov met the required length) tripped up a few entrants. There were lots of appreciative comments about Virgo's quiz, and it has been fun adjudicating it. We especially liked the card from one Tasmanian entrant with a map of Tasmania fi lled with sheet music! Alison Martin and Alison Shield
Solvers’ Comments• It was nice to reacquaint with some old friends! Ray Gooderick • Thanks for the fun quiz – great excuse to put on some music and sing along. Margaret Steinberger• I enjoyed this very much & lots easier than crosswords! Marion Gavan• I enjoyed completing this quiz and was quite surprised that I only had to Google a couple – must be all the music exams I once did. Barbara Ibbott• An e xcellent exercise in research and more information to add to the list. Thanks, Audrey. Bev Cockburn• Many thanks for an enlightening quiz. Robyn Wimbush• At last a quiz I can participate in with some confi dence! As a music lover in general and an opera buff in particular I had three quarters of the answers straight off. John Baylis• Quite a bit of research needed for this quiz. The different spellings of some of the surnames in various references posed some problems. [Yes indeed! Adj.] Graeme Cole • My wife and I have just been listening to virtuoso Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida, a composer with whom we were quite unfamiliar until encountering him in the quiz. Peter Dearie• Tracked down most OK. Laurindo and Erno took some time. Bit unsure about Almeida. More likely to have made typing errors than wrong composers. [The typos let you down, Gary! Adj.] Gary Lemon • Very absorbing quiz requiring some digging into old reference books. John Martin• Thank you Virgo and Alisons. I enjoyed doing this! Paula Mercer• Although I am very fond of their music, I don't know their names! I always thought Rossini's name was “Giacomo”, so at least I have been disabused of that mistake! Andrew Miles• Ashamed to say only heard of about 13 of these and 2 by fi rst name! You must have had fun sourcing these! Eileen O'Brien• Another enjoyable quiz. Thank you for adjudicating Audrey's quiz. Keep up the good work. Marian Procter
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Nov 1-2013: Half 'n Half by Aristides (Alan Eason)• A slot 1 but no 'gimme'! Some nice cryptic clues, VOX POPS, ACETONE etc. Tony Dobele• Neat clue for Vox Pops! Nea Storey• No surprises to start with – very encouraging. Robyn Wimbush• The bottom right hand corner created a few problems when I entered traps instead of hooks. Quite a challenging puzzle. Joan Smith• Now I know what my ID is, and where the Big Mandarin is. Quite liked 21dn ACETONE. Rob Moline• Sydney Business Phone Book missed Traralgon – which had me worried for a moment. Lots of cute clues, but harder than the average Half 'n Half. Dale McManus• Thanks, Aristides, for your clever Half 'n Half puzzle. 4dn DEW was brilliant. Alan Walter• Enjoyed. All good clues. Roy Taylor• ETERNISES was an unfamiliar (to me) variation on an everyday word. Loved MUG! Max Roddick
November 2-2013: Cryptic by Pindar (John Brotherton)• Some very neat clues, including 13ac and 3dn, my COTM. Len Colgan• I liked the surface reading of 4ac but isn’t a US/Nth Am indicator needed for fall=autumn? 7dn also good. Drew Meek• No push-over! Enjoyed SWEET and FALL OVER. Tony Dobele• Favourite clues here were epic, fl ambé, sweet and liquorice. Nea Storey• Can't believe how long it took to fi nd engraving. Such an obvious clue. Robyn Wimbush• Always enjoy cryptics from Pindar: favourite clues were 21ac and 8 and 9dn. Joan Smith• Liked the surface in 6dn SCOTCH ON THE ROCKS. Took a long time to work out 3dn and 9dn, accustomed to having digits for cross-referenced clues. Rob Moline• Loved RUNWAY, and after I changed COARSE to COURSE...UPRISING appeared. Considered FLAMBE for my COTM, but I needed help with BENIGN – tho' its obvious when you know. Dale McManus• Liked FALL OVER and the clue for PLACEBO was ironically humorous. Thanks Pindar. Alan Walter
November 3-2013: Cryptic by Robespierre (Ian McKenzie)• Clever theme (which seeped over into #2, 14ac) & interesting clues, such as 10, 15/21, 29ac, 4dn & 17ac (my vote for COTM). Drew Meek• Many gems in this. Even anagrams were cleverly disguised – BREASTWORK, SPHINCTER. Not sure of the 'legality' of a couple but very clever and satisfying to solve. Tony Dobele• I made this harder by trying to put le or la into all the clues with 'The French Connection'. Especially liked the clues for 16 & 23ac and 9 & 21dn. Joan Smith• I liked 7dn (took a while for the penny to drop!) and 21dn. Initially I had The French Collection, which seemed to fi t in with Renoir and Chagall. Not sure if 27ac is tippier or tipsier – both seem to fi t the bill! Nea Storey• Loved Robespierre and The French Connection. Robyn Caine• I found it quite challenging. Carnot was an unknown. Robyn Wimbush• Spotted the theme on fi rst try – INUTILE, else it might have been hard. Needed a word fi nder for 23ac CARNOT: recognised him immediately from engineering study, otherwise I'd still be looking. 27ac TIPSIER a guess (requiring the forbidden indirect anagram) so probably wrong. 1dn: 'e (to) go' groan ;-) Liked 8dn NEMO, 21dn the 'striking landmark' and the not quite all-in-one 17dn SPHINCTER. Rob Moline• It was fascinating reading the reports in the papers about 15/21ac HIGG’S BOSON and have been expecting someone to work it into a puzzle. The clever clue brought a smile to my face – it was worth waiting for. Joan McGrath • I know the answer to 1ac SAGA by its defi nition but it took a while to connect "foresight" with FORSYTHE. Also had “breastwire” originally and didn’t see the connection with Dolly Parton. Two lightbulb moments. Ulla Axelsen• Re 23ac CARNOT. The Meaning of Liff (Douglas Adams & John Lloyd, 1983) has the following defi nition CAARNDUNCAN – The high-pitched and insistent cry of the young male human urging one of its peer group members to do something dangerous on a cliff edge or piece of toxic waste ground. Likewise I can recall occasions when my brother would be watching his favourite soccer team (Tottenham Hotspur) and would shout “Carn you Spurs” in encouragement. I’m uncertain whether CARN or CAARN has made it into any actual dictionary – it’s not in any of mine. [The Macquarie 4th Edition 2005 has “CARN –(colloquial interjection), a sporting barracker’s cry” – time to upgrade, Peter? Adj] Peter Dearie • Simple arithmetic got my 13 for 11ac and I’m dying to know how Robespierre arrived at ANAGRAM. Top slot, though. Needed worldwide friendship to get CARNOT and hope that I made the right decision between TIPPIER and TIPSIER – thought the “drink” should involve TIPSIER. [The secret lies in the “sip” – as noted above an indirect anagram Adj] Dale McManus• This caused me a lot of trouble. I was fully convinced that Ronny Biggs was the train robber, which gave me BONNY RIGGS, which in turn sounded about right for “smashing machine”. However, it was not to be and I was in diffi culties from there on. John Baylis
• A good puzzle. I thought that the Clue to 11ac was very good and clever. 11+2 = 12+1. Delightfully misleading in many ways and a great joy when fi nally twigged. Not sure about Carn although I suppose it does get a fair amount of exposure, particularly in the aerial game. Poor ol' Dolly. Her assets do cop a bit of fl ak. Jim Fowler• A clever puzzle with many French connections. Well done Robespierre – a French nickname? Alan Walter• Great stuff! Not easy. I liked Higgs Boson (COTM) and SPHINCTER. Roy Taylor• HIGGS BOSON was a delight, but SARCOZY was a real head-scratcher; I fi nished everything else for the month before I got it. A very elusive and very clever clue. Max Roddick
November 4-2013: AJ by Crowsman (Len Colgan)• Hoping H is haka (=dance or opening dance) but if so, not sure how “Asian capital omitted (opening)” contributes [dHAKA – Adj]. M: answer seems to be Manatee but crew-members indicates “men” not “man”. P: hadn’t previously come across sense of pagan=atheist and am always pleased to learn new senses/words. Drew Meek• QUEUERS was devious but LEFT PARENTHESIS takes the cake! Tony Dobele• Another beauty from Len Colgan. I had a lucky guess with Russian Roulette, but Left Parentheses was the last clue I fi nalised. I had to check the keyboard to see if it was right! Nea Storey• Love Slot 4. So nice to have the 1st letter there for you! Robyn Wimbush• Great AJ with good clues as usual from Crowsman. C, D, F, L and Y were my favourites. Joan Smith• Superb! Excellent and enjoyable clues all round. LEFT PARENTHESIS took much longer to fi gure out than it should have, and beaten by KITTIES – didn't know the bowls defi nition, couldn't make the mental leap to pools defi nition, confounded by the singular + singular = plural clue layout. Rob Moline• Crowsman’s Slot 4 was my favourite and I gave the C clue – COBBLER – my COTM. Bev Cockburn• Loved “shift nine” as the defi nition to LEFT PARETHESIS – had me stumped for a while. Ulla Axelsen• Always my favourite slot – and even quirkier this time of course. Thought BULGARIANS priceless. Dale McManus• An, as usual, excellent AJ from Len. I liked the L clue and give it my COTM. Perhaps a bit tough for the Qwerty challenged. Jim Fowler• A challenging AJ with some diffi cult answers. NOONER – what a surprising answer, COBBLERS – a brilliant clue. Thanks, Crowsman. Alan Walter• Great AJ. L and R took some thought. Roy Taylor• A star to YOURSELF for cuteness. Eileen O’Brien• Shift nine, LEFT PARENTHESIS. Very neat! Max Roddick
Nov 5-2013: Double Acrostic by Penobscot (Maurice Cowan)• Most enjoyable. I liked the L clue for STUTTERING. Len Colgan• Some proofi ng problems in the grid references in this puzzle. [A number of members made a similar comment, but happily the inaccuracies in the references between the different grids don’t seem to have affected the accuracy of the submissions – Adj] As I was unsuccessful Googling “Clancy calls it a day”, I’m assuming the poem was written for the puzzle and therefore I couldn’t check some missing letters. 124-128 could be plaid, plain or plait. I went for plain (128=N) but none read particularly well. [Penobscot confesses to writing the verse a la Banjo – The Old Man Plain is the name of an extensive saltbush plain between Hay & Wanganella: Adj] Drew Meek• I've loved Penobscot's DAs in the past and this was no exception. Some errors in the clues did not detract from the pleasure at all. Tony Dobele• This double acrostic proved to be fun, the title being Clancy Calls it a Day. Nea Storey• Hope I got this right as some of the numbers weren’t quite spot on. Robyn Caine• What fun this was. I notice Waterview St. Balmain is still there. Easy to ignore the mismatches and to guess. Robyn Wimbush• Love acrostics and really enjoyed this one. Joan Smith• Enjoyed that, as I liked the verse. Rob Moline• Slot 5’s type of puzzle always takes a while, but little by little the poem evolved and once again it was a little gem. Bev Cockburn• Double acrostics are always a lot of fun. Ulla Axelsen• Needed help with some of the clues, but the meticulous follow-ups made it well worth it. What a complex composition – well done, Penobscot! Dale McManus• I was a bit bemused and vaguely disconcerted with the missing letters from the answer grids – some given, some not. Enjoyable but not great. Jim Fowler• Couldn’t fi nd this verse [please see response to Drew Meek, above - Adj] but your acrostic was quite an entertaining revelation. Thanks, Penobscot. Alan Walter• Banjo, turn in your grave. Roy Taylor• Diffi cult to think of Clancy 'calling it a day' . Would've thought he'd just ride the sunlit plain forever... . Liked the YAHOO clue. Max Roddick
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Post entries for puzzles 1-5 to Andrew Patterson, 372 Great North Rd, Abbotsford, NSW 2046. The closing mail date for puzzles 1 to 5 is Wednesday 18 December 2013.
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October 6-2013: Players by zinzan (Andrew Patterson)
Entries: 62. Correct: 46. Success rate 74.2%.
Prizewinner: Mike Potts. Congratulations!
Setter's Comments: Having completed a normal solve of the grid and then arranged the initial letters of the clues, one should have been left with ADD LETTER to DOZEN ANSWERS for BEST ACTRESS. Foremost in my mind at least, Best Actress refers to Oscar winners. They were: Cher, Davis, Fletcher, Hayes, Holliday, Lange, Page, Shearer, Spacek, Streep, Swank and Theron. While most actresses were identifi ed, variations (therefore, no dot) were Blane, Swann, Ayres, Cage, Shaun, Laine, Swain and Herron. Five solvers submitted ALE in 32ac but needed to have AGE and so Hale appeared as well. Other than all that, it was pretty straightforward really . . . —(zinzan) Andrew Patterson
Solvers’ Comments:• Brilliant, just brilliant. The anticipation to complete the grid so as to fi nd out what twelve thingies had to go in the boxes was palpable. Great fun. Raoul• After working out the instructions, I had to resort to Chambers Book of Facts to fi nd some of the actresses, so I really had a good mental work-out. Robyn Caine• Very clever bringing all those elements together. Very satisfying to solve. Merv Collins• Wonderful. Deserves an Oscar! Brian Symons• That was a great puzzle. Thanks. Betty Siegman• Another well-crafted and cleverly constructed puzzle. I would rate it as one of the best of the year. Michael Kennedy• I was initially mystifi ed by the grid, very much non-zinzan, especially the fi rst and last rows. But it became clear at the end just why it was needed. Sneaky clues, defi nitely zinzan, included 32ac AGE and 25dn RUGGED. Len Colgan• My tiny mind boggles at the effort that must have gone into it, let alone coming up with the concept. I tips me lid. Jim Fowler• I was going along all right until I came to fi nding the actresses! As the old saying goes, I just couldn't see them for looking and it took me a number of passes through the crossword answers to fi nd all twelve. Congratulations on an entertaining and unusual Slot 6. Susan Howells• Really enjoyed your triple-decker challenge. Jan Wood• What an amazing puzzle. When I fi rst saw it I thought “no-go” but with some spare time I had a go. Loved it! Cheryl Wilcox• I found the clues enjoyable but I can’t say the same for the research exercise. Bob Hagan• I enjoyed this particular puzzle. John Baylis• Excellent puzzle with a theme I have not seen before – a great change from the usual. HER is a great clue – not easy for a 3-letter word. Doreen Jones• How did you ever compile this horror? Some very clever clues. Marian Procter• Solving wasn’t too bad but it took forever to work out the meaning of the instructions. Awesome! Eileen O’Brien• What a superb feat in compiling this crossword and what fun to solve it. [And after my comment from last month, Ulla you are now the second Ula/Ulla I’ve heard of, after Midships’ mum. ZZ] Ulla Axelsen• Thanks for the fun puzzle – fun to solve and fun to search these great gals. Kath Harper• Great puzzle. I loved your use of Harry in 6dn and ‘extremely’ to get H and E from ‘handsome + Romeo for HER but my favourite was AGE – so clever. Bev Cockburn• What a stunning puzzle. Must have taken ages to construct. Alan Walter• Thanks for an intriguing puzzle – I did enjoy the search for actors among the completed crossword. It must have been a nightmare to set! I particularly liked SPACE and RUGGED. Jeremy Barnes• Another zinzan beauty! Liked STEEP and AGE for cleverness, IN SYNC for fun, and found AYES hardest. But I fear my best actresses might be a bit off-target – fi ngers crossed! Max Roddick• Thank you for an interesting mind exercise. Until I worked out 32ac was AGE, not ALE, I was despairing of completing the list of actresses. Maureen Blake• This was a highly ingenious puzzle which kept me occupied for quite some time. Most enjoyable! Peter Dearie
Explanations of November Grids where provided by compilers. Thanks to Alan, Ian, Len and Maurice.
Slot 1 Aristides. Down: 1 TRA + RA + LONG*, 2 homophone ELEKT + RA, 3 OLD + S + MOBILE, 4 WED*, 5 double def., 6 WE + EP, 7 MEAN*+ ADS, 8 misleading def., 12 BIG + MANDARIN, 14 PLOT* inside SIGHTS, 17 (RITES SEEN)*, 19 VO + X + POPS, 21 ACE + TONE, 22 RAP + ID, 24 CO + DA, 26 GUM written up (MUG adjective).
Slot 3 Robespierre. Across: 1 homoph. ref to Forsyte Saga, 10 (INUIT*, LE) 11 ("Eleven plus two" is an anagram of "twelve plus one"), 12 hw (hidden word), 13 hidden word, 15/21 Biggs hose (Spooner), 16AB + SOLVING) 18/3 the French connection (Solutions 10, 20, 22 & 23 all have French elements), 23 CARN + OT, 25 (EGALITARIANS – ATLAS)*, 27 TI (SIP*[ind]) ER, 28 TIE + DOWN) 29 (BRA SET)* + WORK anagrind, 30 homoph DIES. Down 1 GHOSTLIN(e)SS*, 2 GAUG(u)IN, Cryptic dd (double def)Too much sketching in red ink? (9) 5 Ne+Ar+S, 6 CHA + GALL, 7 d)ISRAELI, 8 hidden word, 9 GI + ANTS, 14 (rANTSNAGYOU* 17 (PINCHES, TR)*, 19 EX + AMPLE, 20 RE + (NO + SIR)*, 21 BIG + BEN, 22 SARah + homoph. COSY, 24 hidden word, 26 BATS*.
Slot 4 Crowsman. A S + Yarra (rev), B + (v)ULGARIANS, C: double def, DING(h)Y, E (m)EN + TAIL, Fr(anag of hot)y, Gyps + y, H (D)HAKA, IN SIGHT + S, JITTER(bug)S, K double def, L (shift ‘9’[on keyboard]) LEFT + PARENT(HE + IS(rev))S, MAN + A + TEE, NO ONE + R, ORGAN + ZA, PAGAN + IN + I, QUE(u)ER + S, RUSSIAN ROU(LET)TE, S (TIP)END, T SPIT(rev), U anag, VA(CAN)T, W double def, X NIX(rev) + JI(AN)G, YOURS + ELF, Z (ILL)ION + S.
Slot 5 Double Acrostic Penobscot: A anag, B LUMBER + SOME, C anag, D anag ,E anag, F DD (Jonathan Swift), G COMMENT + ARIES, H A F-FORD, J LUST + RUM, K LAW + LESS + NESS, L ST (UTTER) ING, M anag, N anag (TTTT + A LTTLE E) , O gAMBIT + I + ON, P anag, Q anag, R anag.________________________________________________________________
A New Word?Max Roddick sends us this cartoon (right) by Weldon published in The Age on 5 November 2013 and asks whether this new word will be included in a dictionary in future.________________________________________
Words with new Meanings?• A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.• A will is a dead giveaway.• Time fl ies like an arrow; fruit fl ies like a banana.• A backward poet writes inverse.• A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.• When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.• The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine is now fully recovered.• You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.• He broke into song because he couldn't fi nd the key.• A calendar's days are numbered.• A boiled egg is hard to beat.• He had a photographic memory which never developed.• The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.• When you've seen one shopping centre, you've seen a mall.• If you jump off a bridge in Paris, you are in Seine.• When she saw her fi rst strands of grey hair, she thought she'd dye.• Santa's little helpers are subordinate clauses.• Acupuncture is a jab well done.• The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.• Who acquired his size from too much pi.• I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.• She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.• No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.